Tied Together
by Serpentarrow
Summary: Sequel to Broken Halves. Clove and Katniss are the victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games. Everything should be perfect but between their own scars from the games, the Capitol's interference and the Districts rebelling, things seem to be far from it.
1. Chapter 1

AN: So here it is, the sequel to Broken Halves. If you haven't read that then you probably should before you read that because otherwise this fic may not make much sense.

Trigger Warnings: This fic will contain self harm and abuse

* * *

Katniss POV:

A breeze passes through the leaves above me and I shiver as it brings a new wave of cold. I feel Clove wrap her arms around me and I lean into her, happy I brought her with me. I shiver again and try to move closer to Clove's warmth.

"We should get back." She says and I nod, she removes her arms from around me and stands up, I follow suit. My limbs protesting to the sudden movement due to being still for so long in the cold. I turn to the girl I love, She grins at me and glances around at the surrounding forest. "It's beautiful here." She states and I nod.

The forest is beautiful, it has always been my refuge, here I can just be me. I don't have to pretend to like the Capitol or those disgusting games that are hosted every year. I stare at my girlfriend for a moment, her black hair is tied in a ponytail and it blows in the wind slightly as she stands there, staring at me with those beautiful green eyes of hers.

I find myself leaning towards her, I press my lips against hers. She wraps her arms around me, pulling me closer and I tangle my fingers in her hair. I grin into the kiss and we part. My eyes roam over the multitude of freckles covering her nose. I love those freckles, they make her look adorable. I quickly kiss her on the nose and she blushes.

"You're more beautiful than the forest will ever be." I whisper causing her to grin. I pick up my bow and arrows and we travel the long trek back to District 12 stopping only to collect the kill from various snares set up along the way.

I stash my bow in its usual spot before heading towards the fence. We wriggle through the hole and I head towards Gale's house to drop off some of the fresh game. I don't need to hunt anymore as I have more than enough money to feed my family and Gale's, although Gale refuses to take any of it. It took a lot of convincing just for him to allow me to hunt for his family.

As we approach Gale's house I notice Clove scowling so I take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. I know she doesn't like Gale due to knowing he has a crush on me. Her eyes find mine and I give her a smile, I will never love anyone the way I love Clove.

Gale's not home when I arrive but I was expecting this. He's taken up a job in the mines and spends most of his time down there. I shudder, I would never be able to go down there. Ever since my father died in a mine explosion when I was a child I've had a slight fear of the mines. I'm glad I don't have to go down there.

Our next stop is my old house where I change out of my father's hunting jacket. I look around the place where I grew up. I dislike the house in Victor's Village where I now live. It's too big and feels more like the Capitol than my district.

"Are you ok?" I turn to look at Clove. She's staring at me with concern in her eyes. I smile at her reassuringly.

"Yeah I'm fine...I just...I miss this place." I shrug looking away. Clove approaches me placing a hand either side of my face, forcing me to look in her eyes.

"We could all move here if you want." She says seriously. My heart swells, because she would do that for me. I know she'd hate it here, houses in District 2 are much larger than those here. But the fact she would do it for me proves she loves me.

I give her a small smile before shaking my head Prim and my mother are both already settled in the new house. It appears as though I'm the only one who has a problem with living in the strange big house in the Victors Village.

Clove studies my face for a long moment before placing a kiss on my lips. I kiss her back, holding her close to me and trying to convey how much I love her into that single kiss.

"We should get back." Clove whispers and I nod slowly my mother will be expecting us.

"You go ahead, I just...I want to spend a bit of time here." I'm not sure why I feel so reluctant to leave this place, Clove glances around the dingy place, her nose scrunching up slightly although she tries to hide it. I know she dislikes it here. When I first brought her here she'd been unable to hide how surprised and slightly disgusted she'd been that this is the place I grew up.

"I'll stay with you." She says, turning back to me but I shake my head.

"No you go it's fine."

She sighs and sits down at the table folding her arms and frowning. "What's really wrong Katniss?" She asks stubbornly. I shrug and refuse to look at her, I don't really want to talk about this. I just need to spend a bit of time away from that house, the atmosphere there is suffocating.

"I just wanted to hang around here for a bit." I say truthfully. I sit down next to her, honestly I'd quite like it if she stayed. I love spending time with her and if I had my way we'd never be parted. But I can see that she dislikes this place and I don't want her to be here if she hates it and feels uncomfortable.

"Do you want me to go?" Clove asks quietly not looking at me. I take her hand and she looks at me.

"I don't mind."

She decides to stay with me and we sit in silence for a while. I hear a thud come from the bedroom we look toward the door in confusion. The door is open very slightly but neither of us thought anything of it when we entered.

After sharing a look we get up. Clove pulls a knife out of her pocket, she always carries knives wherever she goes, hiding hem in her pockets and boots as the peacekeepers would dislike her carrying weapons. Cautiously we approach the door, Clove stands in front of me holding her weapon in her hand ready to throw it if necessary.

The door creaks open slowly revealing the empty beds. Suddenly a yellowish blur shoots out from under Prim's old bed and dashes towards us. I scowl when I recognise the blur and grab at it when it tries to escape past me.

"Prim's been looking everywhere for you." I growl at the mangy cat I'm now holding by the scruff of the neck. Buttercup hisses at me and swipes at me with his claws. I hold him at arm's length for a few more moments before sighing in irritation and dropping him.

With a final hiss he jumps up onto the table and start sniffing at my hunting bag, hoping to find some scraps inside. I roll my eyes at the cat and shoo him away. "Go find Prim, she's been worried about you." I tell him but he just looks at me blankly.

"We should get back." Clove says scooping the cat up in her arms. "We can take Buttercup to Prim."

"Yeah." I glare at the cat when he purrs and nuzzles into Clove. "Don't get too comfortable cat, she's taken." I say possessively making sure to give Clove a quick kiss before the cat can wriggle out of her grip and scratch me.

"I guess you're not the only one who doesn't like the new house." Clove says as we walk together.

"I guess." I murmur, glancing at the cat. Maybe we have something in common after all. When the cat appeared half starved on our doorstep years ago I'd wanted to cook him in a stew. It had been Prim that had saved him and seeing her so happy had made me allow her to keep him. He's never liked me much, I guess because he senses that if it wasn't for Prim I'd have killed him.

I watch as he sits contentedly in Clove's arms, his eyes half closed and purring audibly. It irritates me that he's decided to cuddle up to my girlfriend. I shake my head, am I really getting jealous of a cat? I snort in amusement.

As we approach the Victor's Village Buttercup starts squirming and Clove is forced to hold him tighter. She manages to keep hold of him and we enter our house despite the cats yowling protests. "Buttercup!" Prim exclaims when she hears the cat. He purrs as Clove passes the cat to Prim.

* * *

That evening Gale visits us. He smiles when he sees me but the smile soon leaves his face when he spots Clove. Clove stands off to the side, her arms crossed as she glares at him.

"Hey Catnip." He says to me, glancing at Clove with an expression of dislike. He approaches me, giving me a big hug. When he pulls away I spot Clove pursing her lips in irritation. "It's my day off tomorrow, you still up for hunting in the morning?" He asks.

"Of course." I say smiling at him. I've always enjoyed hunting with him, he's a good hunting partner and since we haven't been able to hunt together lately since he's been working in the mines. Gale smiles and tells me he'll meet me in the forest the next morning.

With a last glance at Clove he makes an excuse to leave and exits the house. I turn to my girlfriend and she approaches me. "You're really going hunting with him?" She asks her eyes flicking to the door that Gale just left through.

"Yeah." I stare at her for a moment before realising why she seems to be upset about this. "It's alright, Gale's just my friend. You know this." I tell her before placing a kiss on her forehead and wrapping my arms around her. "I love you and that's not going to change." I kiss her again and when I pull away she has a small smile on her face.

"Katniss."

"Yeah?"

"I love you." She says with a grin, kissing me on the lips. My heart leaps at the words. I never want to part from her, I hold her closer to me. My mother calls us for dinner and I'm forced to let go.

* * *

We lie together in bed, my arms wrapped around her. She shifts her position and lets out a small sigh. "What's wrong?" I ask, kissing her neck gently.

"It's nothing." She mutters but I can tell she's lying. I tighten my hold on her, guessing what the problem is likely to be.

"Would you like to come hunting with me and Gale tomorrow?" I ask, she tenses and although I cannot see her face I can picture to frown that has appeared on her face at my mention of Gale.

"It's fine, I know hunting with him is important to you, he's your friend." She turns over to face me, pressing her forehead against mine. "I just don't want him to ty anything…"

"Gale knows I don't love him." I interrupt, hugging her reassuringly.

"I know." She sighs before kissing me softly. "I love you." She whispers.

"I love you too." I grin at her in the darkness, hugging her tightly and kissing her. After a few minutes of silence I notice that Clove's breathing has evened out and I realise she's fallen asleep. I can't help the small smile that graces my lips and I place a final kiss on her cheek before closing my eyes and allowing myself to drift off to sleep.

I awake with a start, Clove is thrashing around in my arms. "Clove, wake up." I say, as I realise the cause of her thrashing. Her eyes snap open and she gasps, I hold her close as the smaller girl shakes uncontrollably.

"It's ok, you're ok." I whisper as I kiss her cheek, trying to calm her down. She takes a few shuddering breaths as I hold her. "It was just a nightmare, you're ok."

"I…I saw you die…Cato…He…." She shakes her head, clinging to me.

"I'm alive, Cato's gone, he can never hurt us." I try to reassure her, she nods. I hold her until her breathing evens out and I realise she's fallen back to sleep. I lie down with her, holding her protectively.


	2. Chapter 2

_Trigger Warning - Self Harm_

* * *

_Clove POV: _

I reach out, searching for Katniss on her side of the bed. I open my eyes when I find nothing but air, sitting up I glance around the room, sunlight shines through the curtains. I blink slowly remembering that Katniss was going hunting with Gale this morning.

Ignoring the stab of jealousy when I remember how she's with Gale I get up. I enter the en suite bathroom to have a shower. I'm glad these houses have showers, I've noticed how Katniss' old house had no shower, instead it has an old metal tub that Katniss had informed me they used to use for bathing.

I wrinkle my nose at the thought of Katniss living in those conditions, although she seemed to feel more comfortable in her old home. I sigh as I step out of the shower wishing I could do something to make her feel more at home in this place.

I pull on a fresh set of clothes and reach for the knives I keep in the top drawer of the bedside table, putting one on my pocket and another in my boot. I feel safer if I can carry my weapons with me.

Downstairs I find Prim and Mrs Everdeen in the kitchen. Prim grins when she sees me and waves me over. I give her a small smile and sit next to her at the table. Mrs Everdeen greets me with a nod before turning back to the herbs she's sorting though.

I sit awkwardly waiting for Katniss to return, unsure of what to do with myself. "So Clove what is your talent going to be now that you're here?" Prim asks suddenly. I turn to he my eyes widening as I remember that victors of the Hunger Games are supposed to have a talent that they will then show to the people of the Capitol at the end of the Victory tour in a few months' time

"Er…" I bite my lip, I've never been very good at anything besides knife throwing and killing. "I…Don't know…"

"Katniss is obviously going to sing, she's amazing at singing." Prim tells me beaming.

"Really?" I ask, I've never heard her sing, Prim nods.

"She used to sing to me when I was younger." She tells me. She's thoughtful for a moment before she continues. "Can you sing? Maybe you could both sing." I laugh at the thought of me singing and I shake my head.

"No, singing is not my thing."

"Well what are you good at?" She asks, staring at me with her blue eyes. I shrug, the only thing I can do is throw knives and that's not what the Capitol will want to see.

"Nothing I could use as a talent." I sigh, what am I going to do? I bit my lip again, hating the Capitol and wishing that I could just be left alone to live my life with Katniss and not have to worry about the Capitol peering into our lives.

Prim opens her mouth to say something but at that moment we hear the front door open. A few moments later Katniss walks through the door, her hunting bag slung over her shoulder. She grins at me when she sees me and I get up to kiss her.

When we part I notice her mother glancing between us and I can't help the blush that creeps onto my face. Katniss gives me that goofy grin I love so much and kisses me again. Her mother coughs and we turn to her, she smiles at us and asks Katniss how her hunt went.

Katniss smiles and approaches the table, slinging her bag off her shoulder and opening it. "2 pigeons and a rabbit." She says pulling out the kill. He mother nods.

"Perhaps you and Clove can prepare them." Mrs Everdeen suggests, we agree and Katniss pulls a knife out of the drawer and starts to skin the rabbit. I start to pluck the pigeons and we're silent for a while.

There's a knock at the door and Katniss' mother goes to answer it. Moments later Haymitch stumbles into the room followed by Mrs Everdeen. He squints at us, an empty bottle in his hand. He's obviously drunk and I'm instantly on guard, scowling at him I grip the knife in my pocket

"Katniss…y'got any more?" He asks holding up the empty bottle. He takes a couple of steps forward towards the table. I tense as he moves closer to us, not wanting him anywhere near me o Katniss.

"Erm, no… I gave you what I bought." She frowns in confusion at the empty bottle in his hand. "You…You didn't drink both bottles already did you?" She asks biting her lip, I turn to her scowling. She gave Haymitch alcohol?

Haymitch grunts and flops down onto a chair. He surveys me with unfocussed eyes. "What 'bout you District 2? You got any?" He asks holding the empty bottle up to me. I wrinkly my nose in disgust and take a few steps back.

"No." I snap glaring at him, I can feel my muscles starting to shake and I try to take a couple of deep breaths to calm myself hating my body for betraying me in this way. He grunts again glancing around the room. I share a look with Katniss, trying to communicate how irritated I am, I hate drunk people, you never know what they're going to do.

I'm even more irritated when Haymitch stays for the day. Drinking all of Mrs Everdeen's alcohol she uses for wound cleaning. I'm not even sure how he got his hands on it and glancing at Mrs Everdeen's face I can see she doesn't either.

Every time the man comes near me I have to resist the urge to put a knife though his head. The only reason I stay is because of Katniss. I don't know what he's going to do and if he threatens her in any way I will not hesitate to kill him.

Eventually Haymitch slumps over the table and starts snoring obnoxiously, I glare at him for a moment before deciding I have to get out of here, Katniss should be safe enough with him out for the count. I stand up and exit the house without explanation.

I've only made it halfway down the street before I he Katniss calling me. "Clove, wait." I slow my walking as I hear her running towards me. I stop when I feel her gab my wrist and refuse to look at her even when she hugs me. "What's wrong? Is this to do with Haymitch?" She asks finally getting me to look her in the eye.

You gave him alcohol and he turns up at our house completely drunk and you ask what's wrong?" I snap at her. She winces at my tone and tries to hug me but I pull away, trying to ignore the look of hut in her eye at my actions. "Why do you even associate with him, he's an alcoholic. Gale sure I can understand at least you can hold a conversation with him but Haymitch?" I shake my head, trying to stop myself from shaking. Desperately wanting to hide my weakness.

"So this is about Gale as well?" She asks and I sigh.

"No it's got nothing to do with Gale…I just…You made Haymitch drunk…" I shut my eyes and take a deep breath. I can't deal with being around a drunk Haymitch.

"I didn't make him drunk…He was my mentor in the games…I was just trying to be friendly." Katniss insists. I shake my head in irritation that she's not getting it.

"I can't talk about this right now." I snap before running of, half of me hopes she'll follow me but I know nothing god will come of that. I run the entire distance to the fence that separates District 12 and the forest.

As I stop to catch my breath I glance behind me, Katniss hasn't followed me. I sit down not sure whether I feel relieved or disappointed. I can't believe Katniss would do that, how could she give Haymitch alcohol? She knows how I feel about being around drunk people. I shudder and screw my eyes shut trying to empty my mind as memories course though me.

_Katniss POV:_

I take a few steps to follow Clove as she runs but stop myself. She obviously wants to be alone right now. I bite my lip and return to the house. "Is everything alright?" My mother asks but I don't answer her as I move over to the still sleeping Haymitch.

Perhaps I shouldn't have given him alcohol but I feel sorry for him. I have my mother, Prim and of course Clove but he has no one. No family and no friends. I'd thought that the best way to be kind would be to give him a bit of alcohol, it definitely gave me an excuse to talk to him.

I sigh and try wake him, he should go back to his own house. I don't think Clove would be very happy to find him still here when she returns. He grunts and waves his arms at me in his sleep. I try to dodge as he jumps up and waves his arms around but I'm not quite quick enough as his fist connects with my cheek.

He calms down and looks at me blearily. "What're you doing there sweetheart?" He asks and I shake my head, holding a hand against my stinging cheek. He frowns when I pull my hand away. "Huh…Sorry about that." He seems more sober after his short nap and he gives me a wonky grin as he straightens.

"Don't worry about it, I think it's time you went back to your own home." I say, he snorts and nods.

He grunts and starts to stagger towards the door, when he's halfway he turns to me and my mother. "Thanks for the liqueur." He smirks before stumbling through the door. I glance at my mother who's staring at me with wide eyes.

I enter the hallway and notice that Haymitch has left the front door open. Sighing I close it and rest my still stinging cheek against the cold glass. I find that it soothes it a bit, reluctantly I pull my face away.

When I return to the kitchen my mother seems to have snapped out of her stupor and is searching for something. She beckons me over and hands me a small pot. "For your cheek, that looks like it's going to bruise." I nod and apply the salve to my face, sighing in relief as the pain leaves completely.

I sit down and my mother stares at me. "Is…Clove alright?" She asks, I shrug, sighing before shaking my head. I meet her eyes and she nods. "Have you talked to her?"

"She said she didn't want to talk about it right now." I sigh, folding my arms across my chest. I need to talk to her but as I have no idea where she's run off to I'll have to wait for her to come back. I get up deciding to go put my hunting bag back in its place in the hallway.

As I dump my bag in the corner I now keep it I stare at it. Remembering the contents of the smallest compartment inside it glancing around to make sure my mother is still in the kitchen before opening it and pulling out the knife, smiling slightly when I find it still there.

Quickly I pocket it and walk calmly upstairs. Once I reach my room I enter the en suite and lock myself in. Slowly I unfold the knife and pull up my sleeve. I take a deep breath as I stare at the knife blade, guilt floods though me as I remember the look on Clove's face, she's upset and it's all my fault.

I settle myself down on the bathroom floor and lower the blade to my arm, reopening a few old scars and sighing in relief as the blood seeps out of the wound. Eventually I reach for some toilet paper, using it to stop the bleeding before rolling my sleeve down and standing up straight. I pocket the knife before unlocking the door and walking out confidently.

As I walk downstairs the front door opens and Clove steps through. She holds her head high but I can see from her puffy red eyes that she's been crying. I approach her and try to hug her but she pulls away. "Clove I'm sorry alright, just please let's talk about this." I beg.

"There's nothing to talk about…It's fine, you don't have to apologise." She says not looking at me. I bit my lip, I can see she's lying, it's not fine.

"Clove please…"

"I said it's fine." She finally looks me in the eye, her eyes drift to my cheek and her lip pulls back into a snarl. "Who did this?" She asks furiously. She reaches for my chin, trailing her fingers underneath the bruise in a surprisingly gentle manor considering the furious tone she'd just used. Her eyes soften as they stare into mine, trying to find the answer.

"It's nothing." I whisper causing her eyes to harden into a glare once more.

"It's not nothing, someone hurt you." She growls her hand reaching into her pocket where I know she keeps her knife, her eyes widen in realisation. "It was him wasn't it? It was Haymitch." She snarls, when I don't reply she takes a couple of steps back pulling the knife from her pocket. "I'll kill him!"

She's about to storm out of the door but I grab her. She can't kill Haymitch. She fights against my hold but I refuse to let go. "Clove please, don't, you can't kill him. He didn't mean to hit me." I say frantically.

She takes a deep breath and stops struggling and turns to me, looking into my eyes searchingly. She purses her lips and shoved the knife back into her pocket. "If he hurts you again I will kill him." I let go of her and she moves closer to me, placing a hand on my uninjured cheek for a moment before kissing me. " I love you, I don't want you to be hurt." She whispers.

A small smile appears on my lips as I wrap my arms around me. "I love you too and I'm alright you don't have to worry about me."


	3. Chapter 3

_Clove POV:_

I sigh in irritation and screw up the piece of paper in front of me, tossing it over my shoulder before folding my arms and leaning against the table. I look up when Katniss laughs "Drawing not your thing?" She asks, I send a mock glare her way that only makes her laugh more.

A smile slides onto my face as I try in vain to keep my face straight. Eventually I get up and cross the room to where Katniss is chopping up vegetable for our dinner tonight. I kiss her as I pull her away from what she' s doing and wrap my arms around her waist.

She grins at me, her eyes glowing with warmth and she leans in and kissing my nose. "No luck finding your talent for the victory tour then?" She asks and I sigh in irritation, pulling away from her.

"All I'm good at is knife throwing." I sigh. I'm surprised when Katniss pulls me closer to her. She leans in presses he lips against mine, I close my eyes and allow myself to forget everything for a moment. We part, for breath and Katniss gives me that goofy grin that I love.

"You're good at kissing." She comments causing me to laugh a bit.

"I can't exactly show that to the Capitol for the Victory tour." I tell her, she stares at me for a moment so I lean in and kiss her again. "Besides, that's a 'talent' that's just for you." I whisper.

As I ty to pull away Katniss captures my lips once more for a moment. She takes my hand, tangling her fingers with mine and leads me over to the table. "So what have you tried so far?" She asks releasing my hand and retrieving the piece of paper from across the room. She straightens out the piece of paper and looks at the drawing.

"I've tried everything." I say I exasperation. "You're sister says you're going to sing." Katniss pulls a face and turns away slightly.

"I don't know…I don't really want to sing for the Capitol. I've just been trying not to think about it." She shrugs.

"Then I guess we both need to find something." I wrap my arms around her waist, resting my head on her shoulder for a moment before placing a kiss on her neck. I hear the door open and I pull away from her turning to find Prim entering the room.

She sends a grin our way and sits down at the table. "How's the talent finding going?" She asks and I roll my eyes, sitting opposite her.

"I still have no idea what I'm going to do." I tell her. "I've tried everything."

"Have you tried cooking?" She asks and I nod, wincing as I remember my abysmal attempt at creating anything edible. Prim looks thoughtful for a moment before her eyes light up.

"You're good with knives right? Why don't you try something like whittling? Our next door neighbour in the Seam used to make his living by whittling and then selling what he made." She suggests, I pause for a moment before nodding slowly.

"I guess I could give that a try…" I give her a small smile.

The next day I go with Katniss to the market. I'm acutely aware of the stares that follow us everywhere as I walk past the merchants with Katniss's am draped around my shoulders. Some people glare at me not even bothering to hide their hostility. I try to ignore it, it's to be expected, I'm a District 2 girl after all, a career, someone they've been conditioned to hate.

I notice Katniss hesitate for a moment. "What is it?" I ask, placing a quick kiss on her cheek. She removes her arm from around my shoulders and nods over to the bakery we're approaching.

"That's where Peeta's family lives." I follow her gaze and spot a man watching us from the doorway of the bakery, an unreadable expression on his face. When he meets my gaze he gives a small nod and enters the bakery.

I'm surprised when Katniss is leading me towards the building. I can see how tense she is so I take her hand, entwining my fingers with hers to let her know I'm here. She gives me a small smile before heading towards the bakery, a determined expression on her face.

We enter and the smell of bread and cakes assault my nose. Glancing around I spot a woman kneading dough in the corner. She raises an eyebrow at us but says nothing. Katniss awkwardly approaches the counter and the man that smiled at us outside surveys us with his arms folded across his chest.

"Katniss." He greets, Katniss offers a small smile.

"Mr Mellark….I…" She looks away, the man holds up his hand keeping the small smile on his face even though it looks strained.

"I know why you here."

"I just wanted to apologise…About your son…" She looks back up at him and he shakes his head.

"There's no need to apologise…You didn't kill Peeta." He takes a deep breath, his eyes filling with tears that he doesn't allow to fall, the smile completely gone from his face.

"That boy was never going to make it anyway." I turn towards the woman, she's finished kneading the dough and she strides over to the counter. "Peeta was always a weak boy, never did anything right that one."

Katniss is silent, I glare at the woman. How can she say these things? I can only assume from her appearance that she's the boy's mother. I glare at her, my free hand curling into a fist. She turns to me and looks me up and down.

"So you're the District 2 girl? " She asks casually, I purse my lips but nod.

"I'm Clove." I tell her, disliking being referred to as the District 2 girl. She nods giving me a sarcastic smile.

"Of course."

"I think we should get going…Er could I buy some bread?" Katniss says, breaking the tension. Mr Mellark nods and brings over a loaf of bread. Katniss pulls out a handful of coins and gives them too him. His eyes widen and he shakes his head.

"This is too much…." He tries to pass some of the coins back.

"Keep it…" Katniss says as she picks up the bread. Taking my hand she leads me out of the shop. When we are a fair distance from the bakery she lets out a breath and turns to me. "I'm sorry about that..." I shake my head and kiss her.

"It's ok." I reassure her, she smiles and me sadly, encircling her arms around my waist.

"I couldn't have done that without you, I had to apologise to them…Peeta…He was a good person...He didn't deserve to die."

We walk further down the street, stopping at a stall selling fire wood. Wood is rarely used for burning in District 12 as it can be difficult to get hold of. This makes it expensive most people opting for coal to keep their homes warm as it is cheaper and more readily available. Still the richer merchants of the District prefer to use wood.

I select a few pieces and pay for them, the man glares at me as I pay for them and I suspect he over charges me but it doesn't matter too much. Being a victor I have more money than I'll ever need and this man in his ragged clothing obviously needs the money more than I do.

"The hob would've been cheaper." Katniss informs me as when we return to our home. I shrug, I'm not familiar with the black market and honestly it makes me uncomfortable. I know it's illegal and yet the place is swarming with peacekeepers. In my District if the Peacekeepers knew about a large scale illegal activity like that they'd flog anyone involved and burn the place to the ground.

I sit down at the table and pull out one of the pieces of wood I'd selected and my knife. Carefully I start cutting pieces of the wood off, I can't help the small smile that forms on my lips. Chipping away at the wood with the knife is actually quite relaxing.

"Hey, Clove…"I blink and look up to find Katniss grinning at me from the door. " Having fun there?" She asks. I shrug and put the knife and my project down on the able. Glancing at the time my eyes widen when I see it's nearly midnight. I've been carving for hours. Katniss laughs slightly at my look of surprise and approaches me.

"Are you coming to bed?" She asks.

"Yeah." I stand and follow her to our bedroom, where I quickly get ready for bed. I lie down and snuggle up to her. She starts playing with my hair and I sigh contentedly, loving just being close to her. She kisses me softly.

"Night Clove, I love you." She whispers causing me to grin.

"I love you too. Night." I yawn, feeling my eyelids closing of their own accord. Before I know it I'm fast asleep.

There's a movement beside me and I open my eyes blearily. Katniss is sitting on the end of the bed. I sit up. "Are you ok?" I ask worriedly, taking in her heavy breathing and the way her shoulders are shaking.

"Yeah…I'm fine…Did I wake you?" She asks. I move close to her, sitting behind her and placing my arms around her.

"What's wrong?" I ask, resting my chin on her shoulder and kissing her cheek. She shakes her head.

"Just a nightmare." She admits, I hold her tighter.

"What was it about?"

"The games…Rue…." She takes a deep breath, shaking her head. She turns toward me and I can see tears streaming down her cheeks in the moonlight. I carefully wipe them away, placing a kiss on her forehead and she starts to sob.

I pull her close to me. Holding her until she stops crying. "I'm sorry, I just…I wish I could've saved her…" She pulls away from me and wipes her eyes.

"I know." I whisper, kissing her. I wish I could make her feel better but there's nothing I can do to undo what the games have done. We lie down together, I keep my arms around Katniss.

"Will you come hunting with me tomorrow?" Katniss asks suddenly. I nod before remembering that she can't see me as she's facing away from me.

"If you want me to." She nods and reaches for my hand. A few minutes later her breathing evens out and I smile when I realise she's asleep.

I follow Katniss through the trees, she spots a bird up in the trees and fires an arrow at it, killing it instantly. I give her a grin as she picks the bird up and stashes it into her bag.

We walk together, I manage to catch a squirrel by throwing a knife at it. I shake my head when it causes a mess. The knife is a lot wider than the arrow and therefore leaves a bigger wound in the small animal. "I think your bow is a better weapon for this." I say as I pick up the squirrel getting blood on my hands and wrinkling my nose.

"There's a lake nearby." Katniss says, pointing in the direction of two large trees. "You can wash that off there." I nod and follow her to the lake.

Katniss sits down and watches me as I wash the blood from my hands. "I could teach you how to use my bow if you want." She says and I turn to her smiling.

"Alright and I'll teach you how to throw knives."

Katniss grins, "It's a deal." She stands and walks over to a bush, after pulling back a few branches she reveals a target. "This is where my father taught me how to shoot." She explains, nodding towards the target. She moves a fair distance away and beckons me over.

I approach her and she hands me the bow. I hold it up and try to copy her stance when she used the bow. She starts telling me exactly what to do and I carefully nock an arrow. When I release it and the arrow sours through the air and hits the ground in front of the target.

I turn to Katniss sighing but she just smiles. I'm not sure how long I practise with the bow but eventually I actually mange to hit the target. Grinning I punch the air in triumph. Katniss wraps her arms around me from behind and places a kiss on my cheek.

"Well done." She grins at me. I laugh and manage to turn around, dropping the bow on the ground I hug her back and kiss her.

"Couldn't have done it without you." I tell her, we stand like that for a moment just savouring being near each other. I kiss her. "How about I show you how to throw knives now?" I suggest, she grins and nods.


	4. Chapter 4

_Trigger__ Warning - Self Harm_

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

_Katniss POV:_

It's evening by the time we leave the lake. I bite my lip, worrying that my mother and Prim will be worried about our absence. It was just so much fun to teach Clove how to use a bow and to allow Clove to teach me to throw knives.

My stomach rumbles and I wince, we forgot to even stop to eat. I take Clove's hand and lead her through the forest, taking a shortcut back to get to the fence. We squeeze through the hole in the fence and start heading home.

"Where have you two been?" My mother asks as we come through the door.

"Lost track of time." Clove says shrugging.

"I thought you'd been discovered." She whispers urgently, looking between us. I shake my head and hold my hands up in surrender.

"I'm sorry." I say and she sighs, indicating we should enter the kitchen. "Like Clove said, we lost track of time." My mother purse her lips and lets out a sigh.

"Don't do that again, for all I knew the peacekeepers could have taken you to be flogged. I sent your sister to the square to see if you were there." At that moment the front door opens and Prim walks through.

"Katniss!" She says running over and hugging me.

"Hey Prim." I laugh as I hug her.

"I thought the peacekeepers had got you." She tells me.

"We they didn't, I'm sorry we were late home we lost track of time." She pulls away from me. My mother calls us for dinner and my stomach rumbles. Eagerly I sit down at the table, Clove sits next to me and we help ourselves to the roast groosling my mother has prepared.

I lie next to Clove staring at her face in the moonlight. Her eyes are closed and her breathing is even. I smile as a warm feeling fills my chest and I place a kiss on her forehead. She makes a small sound and a tiny smile appears on her lips but she continues to sleep soundly.

I watch her sleep for a while before closing my eyes and attempting to fall asleep. I sigh when sleep doesn't come and open my eyes. This has happened the past few nights and when I finally do get to sleep there's a chance I'll see Rue die again, or see myself kill Marvel and Glimmer or something similar.

I try to keep quiet after a nightmare, so as not to wake Clove. I know she has nightmares too and any peaceful sleep she can get is much needed. I turn back to her a smile forming on my lips involuntarily. She's so beautiful; I gently brush some hair out of her face.

I glance at the time, glad of the greenish light of the digital clock for once. I sigh when I read the time, 4:18. This is a record for how long I've evaded sleep. I sit up and blink my eyes. I'm exhausted, I glance a Clove who's still sleeping peacefully feeling slightly envious.

I pull myself out of bed and enter the en suite bathroom, quietly opening the drawer and grabbing the penknife I hide there. As I turn the light on I wince at the sudden bright light. I take a deep breath, allowing my eyes to adjust before approaching the sink. Placing my hands either side of it I stare and my arm for a few moments.

Slowly I reach for my sleeve and pull it up, examining the scars and few still healing cuts there. I remember the calm numbness I receive when I cut my skin. I grit my teeth and look up into the mirror, I look as exhausted as I feel.

I need to sleep and this will help me. I gulp, it will upset Clove. Biting my lip I shake my head, she doesn't have to know. Quickly I nick the skin on my arm a few ties, releasing a relieved breath when the calm numb feeling fills me.

I hold some toilet paper to the shallow cuts until they stop bleeding and as I do so I can feel my eyes closing of their own accord. I shake my head and flush the toilet paper down the toilet, pulling my sleeve down and re-entering the bedroom.

I crawl into bed, allowing my eyes to close, a few moments late I feel an arm around me. I smile sleepily before allowing myself to succumb to sleep.

This becomes routine for most nights, occasionally either Clove or I will wake up from a nightmare and we'll hold each other until we can sleep again. My nightmares are becoming more violent and more frequent and I often can't stop myself from waking up screaming. Neither of us get much sleep.

I think my mother and Prim are starting to notice. My mother keeps sending me worried glances and Prim is always asking what's wrong. Of course I just smile and tell her I'm fine. I sometimes visit Haymitch simply because when he's out of his head drunk he barely notices my presence, it's kind of reassuring to just sit with someone who can't see just how broken I am.

Clove has really taken to whittling, when I return from hunting I often see her whittling away at pieces of wood. She's pretty good at it as well, her first project was a simple wooden egg, and although it isn't completely smooth it's not bad for a first attempt.

She's taken to carving animals, rabbits, birds and even Buttercup. Prim was excited when Clove showed her the carving of Buttercup, Clove had laughed and said she could keep it. I can't help but smile when I think about how much Clove and Prim have bonded.

I watch them as Clove plays with Buttercup, Prim's laughing as the cat jumps up at the feathered cat toy, his eyes narrowed as he swipes a paw at it. Clove laughs her eyes glowing with warmth despite the bags underneath them.

I slight guilt courses through me as I remember the reason she didn't get much sleep last night because of me. I'd awoken screaming from one of my nightmares, I'd been thrown into a pit of fire by a sneering President Snow while Cato slaughtered Clove, I was unable to do anything to save her. I shudder and force the memory of the dream from my mind, not wanting to dwell on it.

Clove catches my eye and smiles slightly before worry flashes in her beautiful eyes. I smile back, trying to reassure her I'm alright but she's already handing the cat toy back to Prim and crossing the room to where I'm sitting.

She puts her arm around me and I lean into her automatically. "You ok?" She whispers and I nod. She's silent for a while before she speaks again. "You sure?" She asks.

"Yeah…" I reply but I can tell she doesn't really believe me. "I was just thinking about last night...It's nothing." Clove holds me tighter and places a kiss on my head.

"The nightmare?" She asks and I nod slowly. "Want to talk about it?" I just shake my head, not really wanting to think about it anymore. "Ok." She says but she doesn't move away and I'm glad of that. I just sit there, leaning against her as if the contact will somehow make everything better.

"I'm sorry I pulled you away from your game with Prim and the cat." I say nodding towards Prim who has now abandoned the cat toy and is sitting with a purring Buttercup on her lap.

"It's alright, you're more important." She grins and me and captures my lips with hers. I can't help but smile into the kiss. "There much better." She places a hand on my cheek as I smile at her, her eyes glowing with warmth. "You're beautiful." She kisses me once more.

"I love you." I tell her causing her to grin. At that moment my mother walks into the room, Gale close behind her.

"Katniss, Gale is here to see you." She says and I nod extracting myself reluctantly from Clove's arms.

"Hey." He says smiling at me slightly.

"Hi Gale." I greet him, he's covered in coal dust and carries a miners helmet under one arm. I realise he must've come here straight after work. I haven't seen him for the last few weeks as he's been working most days and they day a week he's not working he always seems to have to run errands for his family.

It might just be the coal dust but he seems older somehow. "I haven't seen you for ages..." He looks me up and down, I stand up straighter, trying to disguise how exhausted I am. He raises an eyebrow. "How've you been?"

I shrug, forcing a smile. "Ok, you?" He looks at me for a long time before replying.

"Busy…It's my day off tomorrow and I don't have anything I need to do. Want to come hunting with me?" He asks. I smile and nod, it will be good to hunt with him again. He beams at me. "Alright, I better get back, I'll meet you tomorrow in our usual place." He says, turning and leaving the house.

I turn back to the sofa where Clove is watching me. She holds her arms out and I grin as I cuddle back up to her.

That night Clove lies awake next to me. She snuggles up to me, placing her and arm around my stomach. I smile, turning and kissing her. "Can't sleep?" Clove asks. I shrug, it's not like it's unusual that I can't sleep, it's more unusual that she's still awake. "I can't either." She sighs and I kiss her nose, encircling my arms around her.

I sigh, pressing my forehead against hers. "Why can't you sleep?" I ask eventually. It's her turn to shrug. I'm not sure how long we lie together in silence. I close my eyes, just enjoying being close to her. I'm not sure how but eventually I fall asleep before her.

I awake to sun glaring through the curtains into my face. Clove is still asleep. I smile at her sleeping face. Carefully so as not to wake her I extract myself form her arms. As I'm getting ready for the day I hear her stir.

"Katniss?" She mumbles and I can't help but smile, I crawl over the bed to where she's blearily opening her eyes.

"Morning." I whisper, kissing her on the nose. She smiles sleepily at me and sits up and stretches.

"Morning Katniss." She says as she rubs her eyes. I glance at the time and realise I should probably get going, I need to meet Gale soon. I tell her this and she frowns but nods in acceptance. I give her a smile and kiss her forehead, letting her know I love her.

When I try to get off the bed I find her holding onto my arm. I wince as she touches the cuts underneath my sleeve but turn to her and smile, ignoring the pain. She frowns again, looking into my eyes searchingly.

"I really should get going." I say eventually. She nods before pushing me down and kissing me on the lips. She pulls away with a big grin on her face, keeping a hand on my cheek she stares into my eyes for a bit longer.

"I should let you go." She sighs, clambering off me reluctantly. I can't help but laugh at her dejected expression. I kiss her quickly.

"I'll see you soon." I reassure her and she nods giving me a small smile.

Gale is already at our meeting spot when I reach it. He grins at me grabbing his bow and passing mine to me. "What took you so long?" He asks playfully. I shrug giving him a playful nudge before walking off into the forest, knowing he'll follow me.

Out in the woods is almost like how it was before the games. Gale sets up a line of snares and we bring down some birds with our bows. We stop for lunch and I pull out a couple of bread rolls and some cheese.

Gale smiles grimly as I offer some to him. "I suppose you don't have to worry about feeding your family anymore." He says as he accepts the food. I shrug in reply, taking a bite out of the bread.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to stop hunting…What else will I do with myself if I don't hunt?"

"I don't know….Work on your talent for the Capitol?"

I turn to glare at Gale but see the grin on his face and realise he's teasing me. I roll my eyes at him and he laughs. "What is your talent anyway?"

I shrug again, I still haven't worked that one out, I suppose if I can't think of anything I'll have to sing. Gale shrugs and lets the subject drop; turning away from me he takes a bite out of his roll. "And….Clove….What about her?" He asks, squaring his jaw at the mention of Clove.

I shrug again, a small smile forming on my lips as I think of Clove. "I think she's going to whittle…She's pretty good at it already."

Gale nods slowly, refusing to look at me. I stand up brushing the bread crumbs off my hands. "We should keep going." I say to him, hoping to change the subject. He nods and follows me, we spot a few grooslings and I grin as I sneak a little closer.

I ready my bow and take aim. Just as I'm about to release the arrow the scene in front of me changes. Marvel stands there, he raises his spear to throw it and I release the arrow hitting him in the neck.

I can't breathe, I scramble away letting out a yelp as Marvel's knees buckle and he falls to the ground. "Katniss, Katniss…" I can hear someone calling but I can't seem to piece together where it's coming from nor recognise the voice.

I'm shaking, I shut my eyes, I killed him, I killed someone. When I open my eyes I can see my hands covered in blood. I look up and suddenly I feel someone's hands on my shoulders. I look up and recognise Gale's face, his mouth is moving but no sound is coming out. I take a few deep breaths but I can't calm myself.

"Katniss…You're with me…It's Gale." I blink slowly. I manage to slow my breathing as I take in my surroundings. I'm in the familiar forest near my home not the arena. I glance over to where I saw Marvel but only see a groosling lying there with an arrow sticking out of it.

I frown and shrug Gale's hands of my shoulders, standing I refuse to look him. "We should get back." I state, suddenly wanting to see Clove. I see him nod out of the corner of my eye.

"What was that all about?" He asks softly but I just shake my head.

"I want to go home." I say, gathering up my bow which I seem to have dropped and striding over to the dead groosling I stash it into my hunting bag and retrieve the arrow.

The walk back through the forest takes longer than I'd have liked it to. Gale insists on checking the snares, I almost leave him behind but decide against it as I help him retrieve the game his snares have caught.

I want to see Clove. The fear hasn't quite gone and I'm jumping at even the slightest sounds of the forest. I need to get out of here. The forest was once my place of safety where I could get away from everything. Now it feels like the very trees are intent on causing my death and that thought terrifies me. I need to get to Clove, she's the only one that can calm my frantically beating heart.

We stop at the tree where we hide our bows and walk towards the fence. "Do you want me to walk you home?" Gale offers, looking at me searchingly. I shake my head and assure him I'll be fine before taking off running towards the Victors Village. I'm glad when Gale doesn't follow.


	5. Chapter 5

_Trigger Warning - Self Harm_

* * *

_Clove POV:_

I instantly see something is wrong when Katniss bursts through the door out of breath as if she'd been running. I throw the wood I had just begun whittling to the side and stand up rushing towards her.

"Katniss…what happened?" I ask she shakes her head and throws her arms around me. I pause for a moment before encircling my arms around her. "Hey…It's alright." I whisper, trying to calm her. She takes a few deep breaths before she pulls away.

"Sorry…I just…" She shakes her head and I guide her over to the sofa.

"It's alright…What happened?" I ask, she looks away and I narrow my eyes. "Did Gale do something?" I growl, if he's hurt her or tried anything then I'll kill him. Katniss looks at me, her eyes wide as she shakes her head frantically.

"No, he didn't do anything …I just…I was hunting and…" She takes a deep breath. "I saw him...Marvel… I killed him… It felt like I was in the arena again, like a nightmare but in real life." She clenches her jaw and I can see her trying desperately not to cry.

I pull her close to be and she dissolves into sobs. "It's alright." I try to reassure her. I hold her for a while until she pulls away. A few tears are still falling so I place my hands on her cheeks and wipe them away.

We stare at each other for a while before I lean in and kiss her. She smiles into the kiss, I pull away and she rests her forehead against mine. We stay like this for what seems like hours. I hear the front door open and pull away from her.

"That will probably be your mother, she went to the market." I say and she nods slowly. We stand and move to the kitchen where Mrs Everdeen is sorting out the items she bought. She glances up at Katniss and frowns.

"You're back early." She says, staring at her daughter searchingly. "Is something wrong?" She asks and Katniss shakes her head.

"I'm fine." She assures her mother before moving to help her put the items away. Katniss pulls a groosling out of her hunting bag and starts plucking it, keeping her eyes trained on the bird so as not to make eye contact.

I glance at Mrs Everdeen who gives me a questioning look, I can see she's concerned for her daughter but I don't want to share what Katniss told me had happened. If Katniss wants her to know then I'm sure she'll tell her. I shrug and move over to where Katniss is plucking the bird, she passes me another bird from inside her hunting bag and I begin to pluck it.

I sigh as I whittle at the wood in my hand. I can't get Katniss out of my mind. I glance up and see her half asleep on the sofa. I'm worried about her, I know she's not been getting much sleep. That much is clear and she seems off lately.

Her mother has seen it too and had even asked me about it but I don't want to betray Katniss' trust and I can't help but feel there's something Katniss is not telling me. She spends a lot of time with Haymitch, briefly I wonder if he knows anything, he's been through these games, maybe he knows how I can help Katniss with her nightmares.

I scowl down at my hands. Having nightmares for half of my life hasn't taught me how to help someone else with them. No one but Katniss has ever helped me with anything like that. I purse my lips, pressing down on the wood a little too hard with my knife and accidently scraping my finger. I hiss and place my bleeding finger in my mouth.

My eyes wander back over to Katniss. She looks so peaceful lying on the sofa like that. Her eyes are fully closed now and from the steady rise and fall of her chest I can see she's asleep. I smile slightly, she needs it.

I examine the cut on my finger, it's shallow and has stopped bleeding now. I sigh closing my eyes, I should go and talk to Haymitch, I shudder and bite my lip. Haymitch scares me, if only there was a time where he wasn't so drunk.

I open my eyes and stare at my girlfriend sleeping peacefully. She should be able to sleep like that through the night and not have to worry about nightmares. Putting down my project and knife I stand and approach her.

She's beautiful even when she looks exhausted. I lean down and kiss her cheek, I love her and I want her to be ok. I take a deep breath and turn to the door. I'm going to speak to Haymitch whether he's drunk or not.

I stand in front of Haymitch's front door. Unsurely raising a hand to knock before shaking my head. I can't do this. I turn away and scowl, when did I become such a coward? Clenching my fist I knock on the door loudly.

When I get no response I knock again, louder this time. After waiting a few minutes I raise my hand to knock again. The door opens and Haymitch stares at me with unfocussed eyes. Taking a step back, wanting as much distance between him and me as possible in this situation, the stench of alcohol and vomit that radiates from his home doesn't endear me to him either.

"What do you want Clovey?" He smirks at me and I raise an eyebrow at the nickname.

"I want to talk." I say in fake confidence, he at least doesn't seem too drunk at the moment.

"We are talking." He says, raising a bottle of some kind of clear liquid that I assume is alcohol to his lips and taking a swig.

"It's about Katniss…" I start, scowling at the bottle.

"Ah…" He moves aside and gestures that I should enter. Hesitantly I take a step inside, trying not to gag at the onslaught of smells surrounding me. Haymitch leads me to a living room that's filled with empty bottles and a bucket that seems to be the source of the vomit smell.

Haymitch throws himself down on the sofa, indicating that I should take a seat but I remain standing not wanting to get too comfortable in this place. My heart is already hammering in my chest, my every instinct telling me to get ready to fight.

"She visits you a lot." I state and Haymitch raises an eyes brown and nods.

"She helps me clean sometimes too. " He says, and I scowl at him my eyes drifting over to the bucket. I take a deep breath to calm myself and immediately regret this decision as I gag on the stench of vomit.

"I wanted to ask you if she'd told you anything…" I watch as Haymitch snorts, leaning back and staring at me speculatively.

"Like what?"

"I don't know…Something's wrong…" I look away, biting my lip worriedly. I turn back to Haymitch abruptly when I hear him let out a bark of laughter.

"Of course something's wrong Clovey. You don't expect someone to just be completely ok after the games." He laughs, bringing the bottle up to his lips, he frowns when no liquid pours out of the bottle and shrugs standing up abruptly.

I take a few steps back, gripping the knife in my pocket ready to throw at him and kill him if I have too. He rolls his eyes at me and strolls over to the cabinet grabbing another bottle of liquor. "Doesn't look like you're alright either Clovey." He says sarcastically, settling himself back down on the sofa.

"I'm fine." I snarl and he lets out another bark of laughter and raises his bottle towards me.

"Sure you are." He says sarcastically and I flex my fingers, wanting very much to put a knife though his throat. "Why did you come here?" He asks frowning at me.

"I wanted to know if Katniss had told you anything…I want to help her." I tell him.

"With what exactly? Nightmares? Flashbacks? I'm sorry to tell you Clovey but these are just part of being a victor, you have to find your own way to deal with them." He takes a swig from the bottle not looking at me. I stare at him, so he had nightmares too? And…Flashbacks?

I open my mouth to ask how he dealt with them but close it again as he takes another swig from the bottle. I scowl I know full well how he deals with them. I eye the empty bottles on the table. I can't say I blame him, it must be nice to numb everything out for a while. I shake my head.

"If you can't help me I guess I'll get going." I say and I turn to leave.

"She does tell me some things…When she thinks I'm too drunk to remember them." Haymitch calls after me, I turn to him questioningly. He nods at me. "She's lucky she's got you, just…Look out for her Clovey."

I nod and Haymitch seems satisfied with my response as he turns away from me and takes another swig from his bottle. I quickly leave the house taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

I return home and glance into the living room. I'm glad to see Katniss still sleeping soundly as I cross the room and continue whittling at the piece of wood.

I hear Katniss stir and look up, her eyes are tightly closed and she bares her teeth as she thrashes around on the sofa. Throwing my items to the side I rush over to her and have her in my arms in an instant.

She awakes with a gasp and looks around frantically. Her eyes find mine and she relaxes slightly. "Just another nightmare." She whispers as she lets out a long breath and closes her eyes, I give her a sad smile and kiss her cheek.

"What was it about?" I ask softly, she closes her eyes and shakes her head slowly.

"Just the games." She shudders and I kiss her forehead not sure what I can say. She shakes her head and lets out a sigh before wrapping her arms around me and resting her forehead on on my shoulder. I hold her silently for a while wanting to chase away her nightmare and make her forget the games.

"Katniss are you in there?" Katniss pulls away from me at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Yeah, what is it Prim?" The door opens and Prim puts her head around the door. She beams at Katniss and enters the room. Holding a wireless telephone in one hand, she passes it to Katniss.

"It's someone called Cinna, he wants to talk to you."

Katniss takes he phone and starts talking to her stylist unsurely, my gaze lingers on the phone, wondering why her stylist has decided to call her now. I push down the jolt of jealousy shaking my head. It doesn't mean anything. Katniss loves me not some Capitol idiot.

I mentally berate myself as I walk over to the chair in the corner of the room which has become my whittling chair. I sigh staring at the pieces of wood around me. I want to make something for Katniss I decide smiling slightly. I sift through my pieces of wood, wondering what I could whittle for her.

I glance up at Katniss who's still talking to Cinna on the phone and notice a spark of gold on her shirt. Her mockingjay pin that she often seems to be wearing, the one that was her token in the games. I grin to myself, she never told me where she got the pin but it seems to mean something to her. I select a piece of wood and start whittling at it, knowing exactly what I'm going to make for her.

"Clove?" I look up and glance towards Katniss who's by the door. "Are you coming? It's time for dinner." She sends a smile my way and I nod getting up to follow her.

I get caught up with whittling after dinner so I lose track of the time and when I finally glance up at the time I find that it's already midnight. Biting my lip and deciding to finish whittling my present for Katniss tomorrow as I put my knife away.

I sneak upstairs to the bedroom I share with Katniss, hoping I won't wake her as I slip into the room. I frown when I find she's not in the bed but spot a line of light under the bathroom door. Quickly I change into my night clothes and wait for her to come out of the bathroom.

10 minutes later I hear her move from behind the door. Frowning I stand and knock on the door. "Katniss? Are you in there?" I hear a slight crash and clatter and decide to open the door, finding it unlocked.

Katniss looks up at me as I stare at her in shock, blood runs down one of her arms a knife lies on the floor by the sink. "Katniss…" I force the feeling of shock down and kneel down beside her. She closes her eyes and turns away from me.

"You weren't supposed to find out…" She mumbles, I shake my head taking her into my arms. Glancing at her arms I can see that she has many half healed cuts and realise she's been doing this for a while now. "I'm sorry."

I shake my head, she has nothing to be sorry for. I pull away so I can see her face and brush a few loose strands of hair from her face. "Don't be." I tell her, placing a kiss on her forehead. I grab some toilet paper and start to stop the bleeding, Katniss is silent as I apply pressure to her arm and that worries me slightly "Why did you do this?" I ask quietly, Katniss shrugs, refusing to look at me.

I place a hand on her cheek and she finally looks me in the eyes. She gulps and takes a deep breath. "It just…It helps me sleep, I'm so tired." She closes her eyes for a moment.

I hug her tightly. "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask and she shrugs.

"I didn't want to upset you." She admits, I kiss her gently, trying to ignore the lump in my throat.

"I love you Katniss, I want to help you…I want to be there for you, the way…The way you're there for me." I say honestly, she stares at me for a long moment before flinging her arms around me and kissing me.

"I love you too Clove." She whispers, she rests my forehead against my shoulder and I feel her grip slacken slightly. She's exhausted.

"Come on, let's get to bed." I suggest and she nods in agreement. I help her up and we wander over to the bed. As we lie down Katniss cuddles up to me so I wrap my arms around her and stroke her hair, placing a kiss on her forehead. She's asleep within moments.

I lie awake for a while, just staring at her in the darkness. I smile sadly, hating that she's felt the need to do that to herself again. I hold her tighter, I'll help her as much as I can. I just want her to be happy. I kiss her forehead before allowing my eyes to close


	6. Chapter 6

_Katniss POV:_

I don't open my eyes when I first wake up, I can feel Clove's arms around me. I smile sleepily and open my eyes and stare into her beautiful face. She murmurs something, screwing up her face slightly.

My heart flutters at her adorableness, She murmurs something else and pulls me closer to her. I lie there, just enjoying being near her. She stirs and opens her eyes blearily, when she spots me watching her she gives me a sleepy grin.

"Morning." She mumbles. I try to extract myself from her arms but she holds me tighter. "Nope you have to stay here now." She pulls me closer to her and buries her head in my shoulder. I laugh and kiss her.

"How about we go into the forest together?" I suggest, she grins at me and nods finally letting me go. I scramble out of bed and start to get ready for the day. Glancing at the time I gasp when I see it is 9:30. That's incredibly late for us to get up, I shake my head vowing to get something useful done today to make up for it.

Once we're both ready we leave the house. Traveling the distance through the town to the fence. I let Clove go through the hole in the fence fist and follow her. I retrieve my bow from the tree where I hide it.

"How about another archery lesson?" I offer holding up my bow. Clove nods and takes the bow from me eagerly. "We could try shooting actual animals." I suggest and Clove agrees as we start to sneak through the forest.

Clove struggles with hitting moving targets I note as I watch Clove miss a squirrel for the third time. "You've got to aim for where it's going to be." I tell her.

"I know that, it just takes me a while to aim with this thing." She growls glaring at the bow.

"Hey, don't take it out on my bow." I say jokingly. She turns to me a playful grin on her face. She pulls out a knife and passes it to me I accept it unsurely.

"Alright let's see how you do when using knives to hunt instead of your bow." She says grinning at me.

We sneak through the forest I throw knives the way she showed me a while ago. I keep missing though. "Damn it." I curse and I nick a squirrels tail causing it to squeak and run off. And arrow flies towards it hitting the branch where it sat moment before.

I roll my eyes grabbing the bow from Clove and nocking an arrow expertly before releasing it, hitting the squirrel directly in the eye. "Not bad." Clove says turning to me. I shrug and she goes to collect the knife that I threw that's now imbedded into a tree. "Maybe we should stick with our own weapons." She suggests and I have to agree, it feels better to have a bow in my hands than a knife. I retrieve my arrows and the dead squirrel.

We wander off deeper into the forest. I examine the trees searching for something to hunt. "Hey…Isn't that a mockingjay?" Clove points out I look to where she's pointing a spot a small mockingjay watching us warily from a high up branch.

I smile slightly. Mockingjays mean a lot to me, my father used to sing to them and they remind me of Rue. I swallow the lump in my throat. "Are you alright?" I turn to Clove, she watches me her eyes filled with concern. I nod my head and give her a small smile.

"My father used to sing to the mockingjays, when he started singing they'd all stop to listen and then copy him." I smile at the memory, he taught me to sing to them too but I haven't really paid them much attention since he died, not until Rue anyway.

"I'm sorry." Clove says but I shake my head.

"It's all right, I like remembering him…And Rue…." I take a deep breath, "She used to sing to them too…" I whisper, Clove puts an arm around me. I meet her eyes and she smiles sadly at me. We settle ourselves at the bottom of a tree, her arm still around me as I lean into her.

"Do you sing for them?" Clove asks suddenly indicating to the bird that's still watching us. I shrug.

"I haven't for a long time…" I murmur, frowning slightly.

"Why not?" She asks.

"I guess I just stopped singing much at all when he died…Except for Prim…"

"What about for me?" She grins at me jokingly and I can't help but laugh.

"You want me to sing for you?" I ask laughing, her grin widens.

"Only if you want to."

I laugh and sit up straighter. Softly I start singing a song my father taught me long ago. Clove is silent as I sing. I finish the song and the forest is quiet for a moment before the mockingjay picks up my song singing the tune throughout the forest as other mocking jays hear it and start singing it.

"Wow." Clove grins at me and places a kiss on my lips. "That was beautiful." She whispers. I shrug, blushing slightly at her compliment. She laughs when she sees it and kisses me, pushing me to the ground and leaning on top of me.

We stare into each other's eyes for a while, I find myself overwhelmed by the feeling of love I have for her. "I love you." I tell her, my eyes glowing, the words don't seem to be able to describe just how much I love her. She smiles and kisses me.

"I love you too." She grins at me before climbing off of me, allowing me to sit up.

"We should probably get back." I say, we've spent hours in the forest already, Clove agrees and stands up holding her hand out to help me up. I grin taking her hand and she pulls me to my feet. She pulls me closer to her and kisses my lips quickly before releasing my hand.

We walk together back to the fence. Stashing my bow back in the tree on the way. We scramble back through the hole in the fence and into District 12. As we walk through the town towards Victors Village I find myself taking Clove's hand and entwining my finger with her.

People stare as we walk through town, some people nod at us in acknowledgment others scowl at us but we ignore them. They're not important. Right now I'm just happy to be with Clove and to have her hand in mine.

I glance into the living room and see Clove engrossed in whittling. I smile, deciding to leave her to it as I enter the kitchen where my mother is cooking dinner while Prim sits at the table with Buttercup on her lap.

I offer to help my mother cook and she accepts passing me some vegetable to start chopping up. After a while Buttercup hops off Prims lap and darts out of the open window. "Come back Buttercup." Prim shouts, she runs over to the window and watches him scamper away from the house. "He always doesn't that…He doesn't like it here. " She mutters almost to herself. "I'm going to bring him back, it'll be dark soon." She says to our mother who nods and Prim runs out of the room.

We're silent as I cut up the vegetables in front of me while my mother sorts out the bits of rabbit. "How have you been Katniss?" My mother asks after a while, I glance at her and shrug, not liking where she's going to this.

I can feel my mother's eyes on me but I studiously ignore her. She sighs and puts down her knife and pushes the rabbit away from her before approaching me. "Katniss…"

"I'm fine." I snap not allowing her to finish. I shoot a glare her way, she swallows hard before taking a deep breath.

"Have you been sleeping? You don't look like you have." She says trying to look me in the eye. I purse my lips and turn to her.

"I'm fine." I repeat angrily, I don't want to talk about this and definitely not with her.

"Katniss, please…talk to me... I might be able to help."

"I don't need your help!" I find myself shouting at her, my hands curling into fists in irritation. I instantly feel guilty at the look of hurt that crosses my mother's face. Shaking my head in an attempt to clear it I stride out of the room.

Things are awkward between my mother and I during the next few days. I tell Clove what happened and she says she'll speak with my mother if I want her to but I decline, nothing good would come of it.

Cinna calls a lot, trying to help me find my talent for the victory tour. He eventually manages to convince me to sing. I don't particularly like the idea of singing for the Capitol but it is definitely the easiest option.

I sit under our usual tree in the woods. It's become routine for Clove and I to go into the woods together in the morning. It's nice to have her there especially when I have flashbacks while hunting. After nightmares and flashbacks it's always her I want, not Gale, not my mother not even Prim, just Clove.

"I have something for you." She says suddenly and I turn to her as she reaches into her bag and pulls out a small item wrapped in brown paper. She grins at me as she passes it to me and I look at her questioningly. "Well you going to open it?" She asks laughing at my confused expression.

Slowly I pull away the paper not sure what I'm expecting. I gasp when I see it, a wooden mockingjay sits in the palm of my hand. Its wings spread out as if in flight. I run my finger over the wings taking in how each feather has been carved into the wood.

"Do you like it?" Clove asks and I look up grinning at her.

"You made this?" I ask, she nods and my grin widens. "Thank you." I say happily, leaning in and kissing her. "It's amazing, I love it." I tell her, she smiles and kisses me.

The days pass quickly and almost too soon it's the day before the tour. I find myself going hunting with Gale. He's silent throughout most of the trip and I can't help but feel something is wrong. He keeps giving me sidelong glances and refusing to look me in the eye for longer than a second.

We leave the forest and suddenly Gale takes my hand leading me down an alley way. He doesn't look at me and he keeps a hold of my hand. "Gale…" His eyes snap up to mine.

"You're leaving tomorrow…For the Victory tour." He says and I nod slowly.

"It's not like I have a choice." I shrug, he nods slowly averting his eyes from mine.

"I…just wanted…" He sighs and shakes his head. Suddenly leaning in and kissing me on the lips. Once I've got over the initial shock I feel white hot anger course through me. My hand curls into a fist and I find myself pulling it back and belting him in the face.

Gale stumbles back a couple of steps and looks up at me, holding a hand to his cheek where my fist had collided with it. I glare at him, how dare he? I thought he was my friend, I love Clove not him. He shakes his head lowering the hand to reveal a bruise forming there. "I just wanted to do that once…"

"You had no right." I snap at him, my hands balled into fists, I take a few deep breaths to stop myself from punching him again. The hand that I used to hit him stings slightly and I flex the fingers causing them to crack satisfyingly. "I love Clove…I'm not going to leave her Gale….Not even for you!" I growl.

Gale holds up his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry" he says, I shake my head and turn around. Before I walk off I glance over my shoulder. "Don't talk to me again Gale." I shout before storming off wishing I'd brought Clove with me on this hunting trip, he wouldn't have dared to try anything around Clove.


	7. Chapter 7

_Clove POV:_

I look up when the doorbell rings. Frowning I stand up, no one uses the doorbell, people usually just knock. I open the door my eyes widening when I see who stands there. President Snow smiles at me and all I can do is stand there staring at him.

The door behind me opens and Mrs Everdeen steps into the hallway and gasps. "President Snow!" She says forcing a smile onto her face. He smiles and nods to the woman.

"You must be Mrs Everdeen." He says amiably although his eyes remain cold and hard. He turns to me. "May I come in." Dumbstruck I move aside to let him inside, my mind racing, why is he here? Where's Katniss?

My face pales when I remember Katniss. She went hunting with Gale. Entering those woods is illegal. My eyes wander over to the two peacekeepers that follow President Snow inside, holding guns close to their chests as they survey the room.

"Miss Sevina," I look up when he says my name. "Where is Miss Everdeen I wish to speak with you both." I stare at him, my heart hammering in my chest as I try to find an excuse. Katniss' mother steps forward.

"Katniss went out for a walk." She says quickly her eyes flicking over to me, I nod quickly. Snow raises an eyebrow a small smile appearing on his lips.

"I see…A walk…Alone? Without her…Girlfriend?" He stares at me coldly and I nod.

"Yes…I didn't feel like going for a walk." I tell him, this is partially true, I didn't want to go hunting with Gale around. I know he doesn't like me and I don't like him very much, but if he's Katniss' friend I will accept him, but that doesn't mean I have to be his friend.

"Very well. Perhaps I can speak with you Miss Sevina first?" It's not a request, I can tell by the way his eyes bore into mine this is an order, I nod in agreement.

"Yes of course."

"Is there perhaps a more private place we may converse?" He asks and I share a look with Mrs Everdeen who looks at me worriedly.

"You can speak in the study." She says and I lead the President over to the study room at the back of the house. President Snow looks around the study and nods as if finding the room satisfactory. He strolls over to the desk and sits behind it watching me closely.

I approach the desk and sit opposite him. "Miss Sevina, congratulations on winning the games." He says and I suppress a shudder, he's not here just to 'congratulate me' anyone can tell that.

"Thanks." I say trying to keep my face blank. Snow smiles and leans back not taking his eyes of me.

"How is Miss Everdeen?" He asks.

"She's fine." I tell him a little too quickly, causing his smile to widen his eyes remaining cold. I gulp what if he's done something to her? What if he caught her in the forest?

"I'm glad… Of course you may have already guessed that I didn't come here just to congratulate you." He says leaning forwards and placing his hands on the desk, I scrunch my nose up at the smell of blood and roses that emanates from him. The combination of the two scents somehow causing fear to flow through my veins.

"Yes." I force out and he nods.

"Your…Relationship with Miss Everdeen caused quite a stir throughout Panem." He says.

"It did?"

"Yes it did." He sighs looking at me speculatively. "Tell me has she told you yet?" He asks and I frown.

"Told me what?" I ask in confusion.

"Ah…I see she hasn't told you, well I suppose someone should tell you." He pulls out a portable television and switches it on.

Unsurely I turn to it my eyes widening when I see Katniss and Gale. Gale pulls Katniss into an alleyway and she follows him, a look of confusion on her face. They talk for a few moments before Gale leans in a kisses her.

I stand up abruptly, not taking my eyes off the screen as my hand reaches into my pocket and grips the knife. I wait for Katniss to push him away, to hit him or react negatively but she just stands there. I shake my head, something in my chest shattering into a million pieces.

The recording stops and I turn to President Snow he smiles sadly at me. "She doesn't love you, she never did, she was only using you to get out of the arena." He says sadly I shake my head, no, it's not true, it can't be, she loves me.

"I know her act was convincing, very convincing, in fact there are a lot of people that believe it." He stands approaching me, the smell of blood and roses shakes me out of my stupor and I back away from him. My eyes hardening into a glare.

"You're wrong. She loves me."

"Then how do you explain that?" He points to the portable television. He sighs and shakes his head. "I know it's hard to take in but there is another matter we must attend to." He indicates over to the chair and I sit down shakily.

President Snow doesn't sit he circles the chair and desk, I bite my lip trying my best not to show how intimidated this makes me feel. "Although many people believe Miss Everdeen's charade there are still many that don't. Those people that don't are mainly situated in the Districts and they saw her stunt with the berries for what it was." He stops circling and turns to me leaning over the desk and staring at me. "Do you know what it was Miss Sevina?"

I gulp shaking my head. "She didn't want to live without me, she loves me." I say quietly Snow shakes his head giving me what would have been a sympathetic smile if it hadn't been for is cold eyes.

"Poor Clove Sevina, clinging to the possibility that the one she love cares for her." He sighs turning away from me. "It's tragic really, you must be so _heartbroken._" He places a hand on my shoulder and I instantly tense hating his hand on me but unable to do anything about it.

"No, her act was not out of love but out of defiance. Defiance to the Capitol and defiance to Panem." He sits down. "Do you understand the implications of this Miss Sevina? If enough people believe that Miss Everdeen is rebelling against the Capitol they might also believe that they can rebel and we can't have that now can we?"

I stare at my hands, refusing to look at him. My mind racing, he thinks Katniss is rebelling against him? I bite my lip fearfully, he could have her killed! My head shoots up and I meet his eyes, he has to know that Katniss is not a threat.

"Katniss is not a rebel… She doesn't want to fight you." I say fiercely.

"That may be Miss Sevina and I don't want to fight her either but she doesn't have to fight me. She's already caused a spark and that spark must be contained."

"We'll try to contain it." I tell him determinedly. He shakes his head.

"No Miss Sevina there is only one way I believe the spark will be extinguished." He fiddles with a letter opener giving me a cold smile. I feel the colour drain from my face as I catch on to what he's suggesting.

"You mean to…To kill her?" I choke out.

"No Miss Sevina, I mean for you to extinguish the spark." He smirks as my eyes widen. He wants me to kill her? No I can't. I will not kill Katniss. I love her.

"I can't do that." I say quietly, I won't do it. I will not be the cause of Katniss' death, she is my only reason for living.

"But she has no feelings for you, you'd be better off alone, find yourself a nice girl in District 2 where you belong."

I shake my head. I can't believe he's even suggesting this. I glance at him seeing his cold eyes and self-satisfied smirk suddenly deciding that I can believe he's asking this of me. He's trying to manipulate me. He turns the television on again showing me Gale kissing Katniss, I glance at it and look away, I can't bear to see that.

"Is this not proof enough that Miss Everdeen has no feelings for you?" He asks disbelievingly. "She's not pushing him away or fighting it. She's kissing that boy, she loves him not you."

I sigh in defeat and he turns the television off freeing me from those horrible images. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, I'd suggest waiting until after the tour to extinguish the spark." He gives me a cold smile before standing and striding out of the room.

I sit there for a moment, not sure what I'm feeling. My chest aches and my eyes are stinging as I try to hold back tears, I shake my head. Even if Katniss doesn't love me I cannot kill her. Even if she doesn't love me I love her.

I stand and exit the room, keeping my gaze down as I walk past the peace keepers, Prim and Mrs Everdeen. I walk straight to the door and leave the house. I need to clear my head I need to try to get rid of this coldness that seems to have settled in my chest.

"Clove? Are you ok?" I look up, I've only made it halfway down the street and I see Katniss staring at me, concern in her eyes. I force a smile onto my face as she approaches me. She tries to hug me but I back away. I don't want her to touch me right now, not until I've got my thoughts in order. She frowns and I gulp when I see the hurt on her face. "What's wrong?" She asks worriedly.

"I'm fine…President Snow is here." I tell her indicating to our house. Her eyes widen as she looks towards the house fearfully.

"Why is he here?" She asks before her eyes find mine as panic fills her eyes. "What did he do?" She places her hands on my shoulders. "Clove, what did he do?" She whispers frantically, staring into my eyes. Her eyes seem to ease some of the coldness in my chest. I find myself leaning into her as she warps her arms around me.

How does Snow expect me to kill her? I cannot kill her. I close my eyes and the image of her kissing Gale flashes though my mind. I pull away feeling as if I'd been stabbed in the chest. I shake my head, backing away from her before taking off down the street as fast as I can.

She runs after me but I'm faster and I soon lose her in the town. I need to be alone right now. I reach the fence and throw myself against it, clinging to the mesh to stop myself from falling. I'm suddenly glad that District 12 never has their fence electrified.

I reach the fence and sink to the ground. What am I going to do? President Snow expects me to kill her but I can't I won't. What will happen if I go against the President I wonder. I know he can have me killed in an instant but that doesn't worry me, I don't care if I live or die. But what will happen to Katniss.

Snow wants her dead. Snow wants the love of my life, the only person to ever mean anything to me dead. I glare at the grass. I will not kill Katniss. I will do everything I can to protect her. President Snow just made an enemy of me today.

I shudder at the thought. In District 2 we are taught to never go against our president. Never to even think of rebelling let alone actually rebel. I scowl pulling my knife out of my pocket and smirking. I don't care if Katniss loves me or not. I will protect her. No matter what I will keep her alive. Because if she's dies so will I.

I throw my knife and it imbeds itself in the earth. I sit scowling at it for a while before deciding to retrieve it. Pocketing it I glance around the meadow and spot one person I don't want to see. I grip my knife in my pocket wishing I could throw a knife into his head as Gale catches my eyes and cautiously approaches.


	8. Chapter 8

_Katniss POV:_

I chase after Clove, she's fast and I soon lose her. "Clove!" I shout looking around frantically, something's happened, Snow has done something. "Clove, please…" I stand there wanting nothing more than to see her face to hold her and somehow make everything alright again.

I scowl deciding to return home. Snow is there, he did this. I need to find out what happened maybe my mother knows. I turn and run home. I take a deep breath before I enter, wanting to appear calm in case Snow is still here.

I enter and my mother approaches me a large forced smile on her face. "Did you enjoy your walk dear?" She asks, at that moment President Snow steps out of the door smiling at me. I stare at him, trying my best not to glare at him. He's hurt Clove.

"Miss Everdeen." He says surveying me with cold eyes. "Have you got a minute? I would like to talk to you."

I glance at my mother who stares at the President anxiously before nodding. He leads me to the study at the back of the house. He sits down behind the desk indicating I should sit opposite him.

"Congratulations Miss Everdeen I see you're moving up in the world." He says smiling as he gestures to the fancy room we're in. I stare at him silently not sure how to respond to his comment. He sighs and leans back in the chair. "Now I think this conversation would be much faster if we agreed not to lie to each other." He says slowly, surveying me with his cold eyes.

"Yes I think that too." I force out, I want him to get straight to the point, why is he here? What did he do to upset Clove?

"You caused quite a stir with your actions in the games and now I have a dilemma." He stares at me and I frown. "The districts saw your stunt with the berries as an act of rebellion."

"It wasn't rebellion." I say but Snow holds up his hand.

"We agreed not to lie to each other Miss Everdeen. Now I'm not entirely sure you are really in love with that District 2 girl and neither are many of the people in the districts."

"I'm not lying." I snap, surely it's obvious enough that we love each other.

"The point is not whether or not you two are in love it's that many people think otherwise…You see Miss Everdeen since people perceived your actions as rebellious, people are starting to wonder if a girl from District 12 of all places can defy the Capitol and walk away unharmed, what is to stop them from doing the same? What is to prevent say…An uprising? It can lead to revolution. And then in a fraction of time the whole system collapses."

"It must be a fragile system if it can be brought down by a couple of teenagers and a few berries." I say causing President Snow to glare at me. He stands and leans over the desk.

"You fought well in the games Miss Everdeen, but they were games. How would you like to be in a real war?" He asks threateningly. I catch the slight scent of blood as he speaks and I cringe back slightly. I shake my head, I don't want a war. He sits back down. "Here's what you must do, on the Victory tour you will convince the Districts that your actions were not rebellious. You will…quench the spark of rebellion before it has a chance to turn into a full blown fire. I don't care how you do it. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I whisper, feeling the colour draining from my face.

"Yes what?"

"Yes I'll convince them."

"No Miss Everdeen," he leans forward once more, "convince me." I nod shuddering at the blood scent that emanates from him. With hat he stands and exits the room. I follow him warily.

My mother stands near a couple of peacekeepers she looks relieved when she sees me. "It was nice speaking with you Miss Everdeen… I will see you soon." President Snow says coldly, he nods to the peacekeepers and they follow him out of the house.

"What did he want?" My mother asks, I shake my head still staring at the door where he just left through. I need to find Clove I decide and I exit the house not giving my mother a second glance. "Katniss wait." I turn my mother has followed me out of the house.

She stares at me for a long moment before hugging me. "I have to find Clove." I murmur in her ear. She nods and lets me go staring into my eyes searchingly for a minute before going back inside. I sigh closing my eyes for a moment to allow myself to get a grip on my emotions.

I turn and run to the place where I lost Clove. Looking around a slowly start my search. I need to find her.

_Clove POV:_

Gale stands in front of me awkwardly, staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. My gaze lingers on the bruise forming on his cheek. "Clove…" He starts before frowning and shaking his head. "What are you doing here?" He asks.

I shrug not wanting to tell him about Snow. "If you're looking for Katniss, I think she's already gone home." He tells me.

"I'm not looking for Katniss." I tell him, he looks at me in surprise.

"Ok.. Why are you here then?"

"What happened to your face?" I ask, trying to deflect the attention from me. Gale's face becomes red and he looks away.

"Er…" He coughs and looks at the sky. I frown confused by his reaction.

"You're lucky you've got her you know…" He mutters not meeting my eyes. "She loves you."

"I…" I stare at him, not sure what to say. Gale is saying that Katniss loves me but I saw him and her kissing, I bite my lip. What if President Snow was lying? It wouldn't surprise me, what if the clip I'd seen had been fake?

I find my eyes flicking to the bruise on his cheek again a suspicion forming in my mind. "What happened to your face?" I ask again. He shrugs and takes a step back his eyes widening in panic.

"I er... It's not important." He says nervously. I scowl at him closing the distance between us and standing an inch away from him. Although I barely reach his shoulder in height he still shrinks away as I give him my most intimidating glare.

"Did Katniss do that to you?" I ask him, needing to know, He splutters for a moment before nodding in defeat. "Why?" I ask continuing to glare at him.

"I er…I kissed her…"

The next thing I know my fist is colliding with his nose. He stumbles backward holding his hand to his nose and when he lowers his hand I see blood dripping from it. "What the fuck!" He exclaims.

"What did you expect? You kissed my girlfriend." I raise my fist once more and punch him in the stomach. He doubles over in pain his knees give way and he kneels on the ground. "You fucking kissed my girlfriend." I pull my knife out of my pocket and raise it, fully intending kill him, Gale shrinks away holding his hand above his head.

"I'm sorry alright. I won't do it again."

"Like hell you won't!" I snarl, I tighten my grip on the knife, I'm going to kill him, how dare he. He looks up at my fear in his eyes. How often had I knelt in that same position as my father beat me senseless? My eyes widen and I take a step back. No, I won't kill him I'm better than that. I'm better than my father. "Get up." I snap at him.

He sighs in relief and scrambles to his feet. "I'm really sorry, I've loved her for years…She never returned those feelings I guess. I... It was stupid I shouldn't have done it, I'm sorry."

I snort shaking my head at least he has the decency to look ashamed of himself. I push down my own shame at my actions, this is not the arena there is no need for this violence or for me to kill him, I'm not my father and I can't believe I just acted to similar to him. "It's not me you should be apologising to." I growl.

His eyes widen and he nods. "Y…Yeah…She told me not to speak to her again."

I snort in amusement. "You don't deserve to talk to her again." I snarl causing him to look away, I sigh in irritation. "But you should still apologise…" I bite my lip. "I'm sorry for almost killing you." I mutter and he looks at me in confusion and a bit of amusement. "But I'm not sorry for hitting you, you deserved that." I snap at him.

I storm off, I need to find Katniss. I gulp when I realise I left her alone to deal with Snow. I bite my lip hoping desperately he hasn't hurt her. I scowl, President Snow is one person I will not have any problems with killing if he dares to hurt my Katniss.

"Clove!" I turn around but before I can register anything else I'm being bombarded by Katniss as she throws her arms around me.

"Katniss?" I laugh, hugging her tightly.

"Are you alright?" She asks pulling away from me to look me in the eye.

"I am now." I tell her, not wanting to talk about what happened here, my eyes wander over the street and I see quite a few people watching us curiously. Katniss sighs in relief and she takes my hand in hers, entwining our fingers together.

"I'm glad," she smiles happily, "let's go home." She glances down at my hand and frowns at it. "Clove…Why is there blood on your hand?" She asks worriedly. I shrug glancing at my hand and seeing a few spots of blood there.

Gale stumbles out from behind a building and glances around, I scowl slightly annoyed that he followed me. "Katniss, I found you." He forces a smile despite the blood running from his nose. Now that I'm not consumed by anger I can see that his nose is broken.

Katniss glances between my hand and Gale's nose for a second. "Did you?" She points to Gale's nose and I nod.

"Katniss, I wanted to say I'm sorry." Gale says holding his hands up in surrender as he approaches us. "I shouldn't have kissed you, can we at least still be friends?" He asks his eyes pleading.

Katniss glares at him and purses her lips as she considers the question. "That depends… Are you going to try anything like that again?" She asks, Gale shakes his head.

"No, I'm sorry, I get it, you love Clove not me. Like I said I shouldn't have done it, it was just a stupid moment I guess."

"I forgive you, but we're not friends…At least not until you prove to me you can control yourself, seriously Gale I've never loved you that way and I never will." Katniss stares at him as he nods in agreement, she sighs. "Come on I guess you should see my mother about your nose."

"What did Snow do to you?" Katniss asks quietly as we enter the living room. Gale is in the kitchen with Katniss' mother and Prim they're seeing to his broken nose.

"He showed me a video of you and Gale…Kissing." I hiss out the last word angrily. Katniss takes my hand.

"He kissed me, I punched him." She says giving me a small smile. I nod slowly.

"I saw the bruise, the video cut out before you did that though and I think it was edited anyway, to make it look more…Realistic. Snow tried to convince me that…" I turn away and take a deep breath, when I turn back to Katniss I see her looking at me, the love and concern in her eyes is unmistakable. "He tried to convince me that you don't really love me."

"But I do love you." Katniss says leaning in and kissing me. I can feel the love and passion in that kiss. I tangle my fingers in her hair, any doubt remaining in my mind that she doesn't love me disappearing with that one kiss. "I don't even know how to tell you how much I love you." She tells me and I can't help but blush as I kiss her again, wanting nothing more than to have my lips on hers forever.

"Apparently we caused a rebellion." I tell her slowly when we've done kissing each other. Katniss nods.

"He told me that too, he wants me to try to 'quench the spark' or something during the victory tour."

I stare at her wondering if he told her to kill me like he told me to kill her. "He wants me to kill you." I whisper, her eyes widen as she looks at me.

"So that's why he was trying to convince you that I don't love you." She states and I nod. She bites her lip worriedly. "What are we going to do? I don't know if I can stop people from rebelling."

"Maybe we shouldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe we need a rebellion…Things need to change, what if…" Katniss cuts me off by kissing me.

"Things like that shouldn't be said inside the fence." She whispers, she gives me a smile but her eyes remain serious as she glances around the room, my eyes widen wondering if the room could be bugged. "We'll do what we can to stop this while we're on the tour." She says decisively and I nod in agreement.

Gale enters the room a bandage over his nose. "I er…I just came to say goodbye." He says glancing between me and Katniss.

"Alright. Bye Gale." Katniss says, keeping her expression blank.

"I guess I'll see you after the victory tour?" he asks hopefully and Katniss shrugs. He nods and awkwardly leaves the room.

Katniss stands glancing over at the clock. "Our stylists and escorts will be here soon." She says. I nod our stylists will be coming this evening to dress us up and then we have an interview before the victory tour takes place.

I find myself staring at Katniss, she's so beautiful. I kiss her passionately, I can't believe that she's mine and I'm hers. "I love you Katniss, nothing can change that, even when I thought you didn't love me I still loved you." She grins at me and kisses me, pushing down and leaning on top of me.

"I love you too Clove." She laughs before leaning in and capturing my lips in hers. I find myself moaning into the kiss I slip my hands under her shirt and run them over her back loving the feeling of her skin under my hands.

The doorbell rings and I hear someone answer it. There's a lot of excited shouting but we keep kissing. Suddenly a large group of people are entering the living room. They go silent for a moment when they see us in this position. Katniss blushes clambering off of me and smiling at the Capitol people slightly.

"Cinna!" She says happily when she sees the dark skinned man at the front of the group. He smiles calmly at her as she gets up to hug him. I spot Katniss' escort, Effie standing next to him. Her hair is bright orange and I find myself staring at it wondering what possessed her to dye her hair that colour.

Katniss goes to hug Effie next and I turn to my escort and stylist. I realise I never learnt their names. I suppose it's too late to ask for them now so I just stare at them awkwardly as my surly stylist smirks at me his eyes glistening with amusement.

I smile slightly when I spot Oriel my mentor lingering in the background she nods at me in acknowledgment before continuing to survey her surroundings keeping her expression blank. Briefly I wonder where Haymitch is but then decide he's probably passed out drunk in his house as usual.

My escort has bright green hair and seems to be wearing a dress that consists mostly of feathers. She beams at me and waves enthusiastically. "Come on Clove don't I get a hug?" She asks holding her arms out her eyes flicking over to Effie jealously. I raise an eyebrow at her; I don't do hugs with anyone but Katniss and occasionally Prim.

"Katniss I don't think you've met Silka, Clove's escort and Balthar her stylist."

I glance at Effie suddenly feeling exceedingly grateful that she introduced these to people, Silka and Balthar, I commit those names to memory not wanting to forget them since it seems I'm probably going to spend a lot of time with them over the next few weeks.

Balthar steps forward looking at me speculatively. "Cinna and I have decided to collaborate, so you two will be wearing matching outfits." He informs us. With that we're whisked into separate rooms to be sorted out for out interview this evening. I roll my eyes, hoping that whatever outfit the two stylists have come up with won't be too ridiculous.


End file.
